In order to smoothly carry out an injection molding operation, it is necessary to use peripheral equipment associated with an injection molding machine, for example, a robot for taking out products, devices cooperating with the robot, such as a stocker, an insert feeder, a part feeder, a gate cutter, a static electricity eliminator or a product inspection machine, a temperature controller for a mold, etc., in combination with a body of the injection molding machine.
Conventionally, such peripheral equipment is disposed independently on the floor of a factory etc. separately from the body of the injection molding machine. In order to perform a series of injection molding operations by cooperation of the injection molding machine and the peripheral equipment, it is necessary to connect cables for exchanging electrical signals between a controller of the injection molding machine and the peripheral equipment; and hoses or the like for conveying coolant for a temperature controller etc.
In the event of moving the injection molding machine to another location, therefore, the body of the injection molding machine and the peripheral equipment need to be separately transported with cables, hoses, etc. detached, and after the transportation is finished, the peripheral equipment must be set up again, thus requiring much labor.
Further, for equipment which operates physically and directly on the body of the injection molding machine and the mold, such as the robot for taking out products, the position of the peripheral equipment relative to the body of the injection molding machine must always be kept in a proper relationship in view of precision of the operation. The stocker, the insert feeder, the part feeder, the gate cutter, the static electricity eliminator, the product inspection machine, etc. also are peripheral equipment directly associated with the body of the injection molding machine or the robot for taking out products, and therefore, they must be positioned with high accuracy as in the case of the robot.
Thus, in the case where the injection molding machine is moved to another location, the positional relationship of the body of the injection molding machine relative to the peripheral equipment which requires highly accurate positioning must be restored to exactly the same as before the transportation, making the positioning work extremely labor-consuming. If the positioning is unsuccessful, it is necessary to perform a teaching operation to the robot and the peripheral equipment again. Also, the peripheral equipment such as the robot may be displaced due to vibration etc. of the body of the injection molding machine. Therefore, in the case of peripheral equipment of this type, a need may arise for assuring the position of the equipment relative to the body of the injection molding machine or for performing the re-teaching operation to the equipment not only at the time of the moving but on a daily basis as routine maintenance.